What's it like to bungee jump?

I have never taught of myself as "adventurous" and daring. Yet, somehow I ended up being one.

Bungee jumping had always been on my #Bucketlist. The only condition I gave myself to be able to do this, was to do it with friends. No excuses.

I'm so glad and happy that I was able to convince not only one, not only two... but SEVEN FRIENDS! I didn't know I have strong convincing powers either! ;)

I came across an article about a bungee jumping site in Shidu county, on the far southwestern of Beijing. So I took it as the perfect place to do it while living on the mainland.

Wikipedia.com: Shidu is known for the surrounding karst landscape, the largest in northern China, that is created by the Juma River cutting through the Taihang Mountain. The elevation of Shidu varies from 84.2 to 1,210.8 meters (276 to 3,972 ft) above the sea level.

Because we are such a large group, we rented a van that was good for our ten-persons group. Our friends came all the way from Xian, China-- where the Terracotta Warriors are and where they were based. It was the best way to introduce an adventure in Beijing on their very first visit! Oh what fun!

Since it was a holiday week in China, we expected throngs of vacationers, but fortunately this spot is not too famous for the locals.

The park is beautiful with plenty of activities to do around, like horseback riding, kayaking, or bamboo boat sailing. Of course, we dared the extreme! The take off point of our jump was the 55-meters high flat form and to get there was to take a cable ride.

When we got there, we were told to do proper procedures of signing up our names, nationalities, and ages. They briefly checked each of us for our weight and asked questions about our health conditions.

We were also given a certificate that says about what an achievement it was to bungee jump on that place and how brave we were to trust them!

The only white guy in our group has actually done bungee jumping on his home country of Canada. So we asked him for some tips that he only summarized to this context: "Just shout at the top of your lungs and enjoy the moment!" Sure thing! haha

While we were waiting at the flat form, he was shocked to see that they only put one harness to both our feet and secured it with a clear tape! A freakin' tape! Ahmmm, how secured are we on that?!?

Yet, we had no choice to chicken-out now. Although there was a couple of men, that backed out and they looked pale for just standing on the flat form. Because we were braver than them, we might as well do it, regardless the security and safety issues. Welcome to China, dude!

The funny thing was that, there's a man on the microphone that was broadcasted to the whole place, for the people to hear. And he would as each and every jumper before they risk their lives, if what they want to say?! Waaaa!

Finally, it was my turn, I was the last one on our group to jump. Yeah, thanks friendships! I was literally nervous and my nerves were literally shaking. The thing is, the anticipation was the hardest part. Not knowing what it will be like, was really killing. I did not feel excited, at all!!! Which made me question my very reason why I wanted to do this, on the first place.

Then the countdown begun....3...2...1!!! The guy who was holding me, pushed me a little, and then the reality kicked in that I'm bouncing, 55 meters high on mid-air! That I didn't even tell my family back home that I was doing it that day. I mean, what if it would've have turned out bad??

I screamed at the top of my lungs and just really enjoyed the moment!!!

I honestly did enjoy it while I was floating mid-air. I was really proud of myself that I was able to conquer this biggest fear of the huge unknown. It was spontaneity, without a doubt!

It was like a 5 minutes of back-and-forth of body swinging. Some time in between, I was just telling myself, "Dinah, if you were able to do it, what else can you NOT do?" It was a liberating feeling.

Then a guy on a small boat, with a long bamboo stick came to my side. Apparently, he was there to help me get out from my not-so-safe-harness-secured-by-clear-tapes. I don't know how he managed to get me out in less than a minute.

Sure it was the most scariest adventure I did so far, but it was the most liberating and fulfilling thing I did to conquer a fear to-- almost everything in my life. I was heartbroken at that time, and for some strange reasons, it made me whole again.

I think, having to prove myself that I was brave enough to do this, I was like, "Screw you, asshole for not believing in me. I did this! I will not allow anyone to break my spirit again."